Chapter 14 - Victoria’s Confession
Victoria survived surgery.
Thomas survived because the bullet struck the protective plate beneath his security vest.
He had begun wearing it after Mason pulled a gun upstairs.
Mason suffered a fractured jaw from Elena’s skillet.
Conrad was held without bail.
The original will had burned along one edge, but Judge Cole’s seal and Dad’s signature remained intact.
More importantly, the hidden archive contained a notarized digital copy.
The forged estate transfers were frozen.
Gulf Meridian Medical was raided across three states.
Federal agents recovered counterfeit drugs, shipping records, and millions of dollars in hidden accounts.
Seventeen deaths became twenty-three after hospitals reviewed old cases.
Victoria requested to speak with me from her hospital bed.
I almost refused.
Grandma told me to go.
“Not for her,” she said.
“For yourself.”
Victoria looked smaller without the crimson dress, cosmetics, and rooms that obeyed her.
Tubes crossed her arms.
A deputy stood outside.
“I loved your father,” she said.
“No.”
“You loved what he owned.”
“At first.”
I waited.
She began talking because silence no longer protected her.
Conrad had approached her four years earlier.
He revealed Mason’s debts and promised to erase them through Sterling Logistics.
The first counterfeit shipments were small.
Dad noticed irregularities.
Victoria started adding sedatives to his drinks so he would appear confused during board meetings.
Then he discovered the deaths.
“He told me he was turning us all in,” she said.
“What did you do?”
“I replaced his medication.”
“Dr. Raymond said it would weaken him.”
“Did you know it could kill him?”
Tears slid toward her ears.
“Yes.”
“How long did he suffer?”
“Six weeks.”
My hands curled.
She continued.
“He tried to call you.”
“I took his phone.”
“He wrote letters.”
“Mason intercepted them.”
“The night he died, he crawled into the study.”
“He recorded something inside the watch.”
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“What were his final words?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“He said Harper will come home.”
My throat tightened.
“He believed you would expose us.”
“He knew me.”
Victoria looked toward the window.
“After he died, Margaret found the forged deed.”
“She threatened to contact Judge Cole.”
“Mason locked her in the cage.”
“And you left her there.”
“She would not tell us where the key was.”
“So you starved her.”
“I wanted her frightened.”
“She was eighty-two.”
“She was stronger than all of us.”
That was the first truthful thing Victoria said about Grandma.
“Why cremate Dad?”
“Conrad said an autopsy would reveal the poison.”
“Why lock Grandma outside where everyone could see?”
Victoria began shaking.
“I wanted the staff to understand what happened to people who challenged me.”
“You needed witnesses.”
“Yes.”
“You thought fear would make them loyal.”
“Yes.”
“It made them evidence.”
Her face collapsed.
She signed a complete confession that night.
She implicated Conrad, Mason, Raymond, Briggs, and herself.
Before I left, she reached toward me.
I stepped back.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
May you like
I continued.
“But I will not let hatred choose what I become.”
